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The Winnipeg Jets will be without defenceman Zach Bogosian again when they return from a three-day Christmas break to host Minnesota tonight.

Bogosian, just back from a groin injury, is sick this time.

“He’s come down with it again yesterday, and he’s gotten progressively a little bit worse,” head coach Claude Noel said today. “Hopefully it’s a short-term thing.”

Keaton Ellerby will fill Bogosian’s spot on the roster, and based on the morning skate he’ll line up next to Dustin Byfuglien against the Wild.

Adam Pardy was lined up with Toby Enstrom, while Jacob Trouba was paired with Mark Stuart.

Ondrej Pavelec is set to start in goal for the Jets, who are coming off a game they’d rather forget, Monday’s 6-2 loss in Edmonton.

“Ask me after the game if it was a good break or not,” Pavelec said. “I think we need it. It was really good to spend some time off the rink.

“Of course, it is hard to put behind you, especially with that effort we play in Edmonton. But you’ve got a life, too. You have to forget, put it behind you, and just enjoy the three days.”

Pavelec hasn’t forgotten about the elbow to the head he took from Edmonton’s Nail Yakupov in that one.

“It was cheap. Cheap shot. Elbow in the face,” he said. “You can get hurt from that. It was a danger. I had no idea it was coming. Just a cheap shot. Puck was behind the net. Just did it on purpose, pretty much.”

The Jets didn’t react until late in the game, with a scrum that included captain Andrew Ladd stick-jousting with Yakupov.

“It definitely was uncalled for,” Ladd said of the hit. “And that’s probably the response at the end of the game when we figured out who it was.”

Overall, Ladd agreed with the suggestion it was probably the Jets’ lowest point of what’s been one of the most frustrating seasons of his career.

“The frustration mounts and mounts and eventually you get sick of answering questions about it and talking about it, and you just want it to change,” he said.

Bryan Little is looking for his team to bounce back from what he called one of its worst games of the season.

“We found out if we play like that it’s going to be ugly,” Little said. “Hopefully, we learned our lesson. It wasn’t pretty for the team and it wasn’t pretty to watch. Hopefully that’s behind us.”

Noel said the game nagged at him during the break.

“It took me a few hours in the evening (Monday) to try to mull over that, and that was not good,” Noel said. “So I moved it over to the next day, the 24th. And I was able to shake it off for two hours. And then I brought it back up again yesterday. But I did enjoy a couple of days where I was able to do nothing. We’re trying to move past that game. I didn’t enjoy it one bit.

“I’m not after them. I’m just trying to move past that game and move forward in the way I believe we can play.”

The Wild aren’t without their own struggles, having lost three straight road games while being outscored 13-4.

They’ll also be without leading scorer Zach Parise, due to a foot injury, and goaltender Josh Harding, who’s dealing with a change in medication to treat his MS.

The struggling Niklas Backstrom is expected to start in goal for Minnesota.